working as an organizer of women in the villages and refugee camps in the Bethlehem area.
“With the Intifada, the Palestinian struggle had become a true mass movement, and there was a need to involve women in a constructive way. I’m
talking abut women from the villages and re fugee camps, women who’d
never been involved in political or social activism in their lives - women like my mother.”Gorkin, 1996: 53-54
This can be related to Sime 1991:50. He adds that in political perspective searches for a democratic society through the full participation of all people in
social life regardless of their race, social status and gender. It also looks forward for people to achieve peace, tolerance, and solidarity. It promotes the empowerment of
minority groups, popular and marginal sectors of society, and women to be able to influence social and political decisions.
Samira’s existence as educated woman, helped and made changes for the other Palestinian women to speak out what they wanted to speak and to act they
wanted to act. She drew an example from the women in the villages and camps, just like her mother, that have begun to free themselves from the domination of their
husbands. She stated that, “Palestinian women now begin to understand that her views are worth something, that they have something to say and contribute together
to the society, not just to their family.” Gorkin, 1996:54
Samira is one example of Palestinian women that can contribute to the society in a significant way that her contributions can influence women to do the same.
This is similar to what Stromquist said in The practical and the theoretical bases for empowerment. She states that cognitive, psychological and political are part of
empowerment’s components. These components are related to the understanding of women’s condition of subordination cognitive; the development of feelings that
women can act upon to improve their conditions psychological; the ability to organize and mobilize for social changes political. 1993:50
Samira has proved that she has the ability to promote women in refugees and villages and reshape relations in the public sphere of society through organisations
itself. Thus, her view about education is rather open-minded, differed from her mother.
“I had no idea what I wanted to study at college. I just knew I wanted someday to do something special, to make some special contribution to my people.
Dreams, dreams, that’s what I brought with me to college. But eventually, I was more interested in my friends and political involvement. Also, I met my
husband there. Like me, he was very involved in politics. There were many things we agreed on completely. About the need for national struggle and the
need to take personal action
—for sure, we agreed.” Gorkin, 1996:40 “I have to say that our society is terribly repressed this way. I managed, I did
what I wanted. But still, a woman and a man who love each other should be obliged to sneak around like me and my husband did. I believe a woman
should be free to do what she wants with the man she loves. Is she wants, she should be free to go out with him. I loved my husband, so why shouldn’t I
have been free to do what I wanted with him? In our society, there’s no support for the idea of going out before marriage. In my view, a lot of the
problems that young people have in here have to do with the fact that they are frustrated and repressed in this area. Our society is sick in this way, very sick.
That’s the way I see it.” Gorkin, 1996:52
We can relate Samira’s view into Freeman’s concept of “sisterhood”. Women come to believe that, if they are the way they are because of society, they can change
their lives significantly only by changing society. These feelings in turn create in each a consciousness of herself as a member of a group and the feeling of solidarity
so necessary to any social movements. Freeman, 1975:546 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Samira knew that in order to change her life, the only way was by changing the society. Since her mother was illiterate, and all her siblings did not really want
to teach her because they were simply too busy, she learned that she had to rely on herself to reach her dreams.
3. Leila’s effort to get higher education
Leila is Umm Khaled’s eighth child and fourth daughter. She is a pleasant- looking woman of forty-two who speaks in a rush words and is open about her
views and sentiments. Unlike her mother, however, she has a modern, fashionable look to her: She wears makeup, she does not cover her long brown hair with a head
scarf, and she prefers blouses and dresses bought in department stores of Tel Aviv. Furthermore, she talks about her experience at school. According to her story,
she only went until eighth grade, she still wants to pursue her study to high school, but there was not any high school at her village at that time.
“The thing I really liked as a child was going to school. I went from first to eight grade. That’s all we had in the village then, there was no high school. I
wanted to study more, to be a nurse maybe. But my parents didn’t agree to my leaving the village and going to Jerusalem to high school. I was proud to
be at school. I like learning things, new things. Which subjects? I liked English that was my favourite. And Hebrew, we learned that too, starting in
fifth grade I used to speak it fairly well. And let’s see, what else did we learn? Oh, math
—that was the hardest for me, sure. And then there was religion, geography, history, and Arabic.” Gorkin, 1996:72
Leila is also open minded with her view in education even though her parents may forbid her to go to Jerusalem to pursue high school, she already had intention
to go there, determined that woman needs education. Finally, she get the education that she wanted, without having to go to Jerusalem. It was here in the village. It was
rather fortunate because at first, her parents refused again but she does not give up and seek help from a respected nurse there.
“What I really wanted was continue in school. Well, a lucky thing happened. Just then, here in the village they opened up this one-year trade school for
girls exactly my age. They gave courses in Hebrew, Arabic, math, and also taught you how to sew. I was eager to go. I went to my parents and told them,
but they refused. “Leila has gone to school long enough,” my father said. I didn’t know what to do, and then I figured I’d go to Margalit. She was a nurse
in the health clinic in the village. Everyone respect her, my mother, too. I then went to Margalit, and I could see she was on my side. The next thing I knew,
she had gone to my parents and they agreed.” Gorkin, 1996:75
She also had a view about what women should do for their continuing life. That is, establishing a career and then taking time out works well for some women.
The works or a job that attract women at that time is, teaching or nursing. It is because these careers offer some flexibility for fitting in families. The quotation
below was the example of when she talked about her job as a child caretaker. “But taking care of other’s people children, doing it as a job – that’s fine with
me. I like it. Yo u know that’s what I do, right? I’ve been doing it for five or
six years. The children I take care of now are all from Abu Ghosh.” Gorkin, 1996:78
Her relationship with her husband, Walid, who worked in a construction business, is also a representation of feminism itself. She was not afraid of her
husband and she even argued with him sometimes. This correlates with the feminism theory that aims to challenge and overthrow patriarchy by opposing
standard gender roles and oppression of women Willis, 1992:117, thus creating equality for both men and women because men are no longer in total control over
women . Leila’s courage to oppose her husband and state the truth in front of him
can be classified in this genre. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
“So that evening he comes home and told our neighbour who was sitting with me then. She immediately said she was interested. After she left I got mad at
Walid. “Why not ask me?” I said. Walid said that since he was a building contractor there, he was embarrassed to suggest me. But I didn’t let him get
away with that. I pressed him, and finally he agreed. Haya began bringing her daughter, Miriam, to me.” Gorkin, 1996:78
According her story, it clearly showed that Leila has her own decision to raise her skills as a child take care. She had a view that women should have skills and
ability to increase the social, health, and economic standards of women. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
46
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION
This thesis focuses on the role of education of Palestinian women as revealed in Three Mothers, Three Daughters by Michael Gorkin and Rafiqa
Othman. Therefore, there are two problems that must be answered in the thesis. The first problem is about the
mother’s life which under patriarchal domination and their perspective towards it. The second problem is how feminism and education have a
role for the daughters. There are six major characters that are described in Three Mothers, Three
Daughters, they are Umm Mahmud, Umm Khaled, and Umm Abdullah as the mothers. Marianne, Samira, and Leila as the daughters. In the story, Umm Mahmud
is portrayed as a as a modest and traditional women. Her childhood life as a girl, has been influenced by the patriarchal domination of her father. She only did her
duty as a helper in her parents. She stated that she wanted to get education by going to school like the other girls but, her father did not allow her to go. Through her
experience, Umm Mahmud wanted to be better at raising children, by giving them higher education so that they can have a better life. She also wanted her children to
not experience patriarchal domination like she used to be. Similarly, when Umm Abdullah was young, she did not have any opportunity to go to school because there
is no formal school but only a Koran-study school called Kuttab. Besides that, she only worked. A job she liked was taking care of the lambs and also, she helped her
mother in housework or in the field. The ironic thing is, her marriage is forced and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
arranged by her father when she was only thirteen years old. In Um m Khaled’s life,
she also had the sam e experience like Umm Mahmud’s and Umm Abdullah’s. Her
life was ruled by her father occurred clearly towards her life. It is when her father chose to take her out from school and bought them a sewing machine. Her father
must be sure that his intention was about asking her daughters to do household chores like sewing ripped-clothes.
According to above findings, in the mothers parts showed vary of patriarchal domination towards them. In their life, especially in the family, a father
is the men who is dominating. All decision is on the hand of father. The father who own the decision to not allow his daughters go to school, with whom they should
be marry, and their work or chores they should do as a woman, in the family. In the daughter parts, Marianne, Samira, and Leila have different life with
their own mothers. First, Marianne who is Um m Mahmud’s thirteenth daughter, has
been an educated woman since her education background was in the University level - Abu Dis College. She also continued her study in Bethlehem University, to
take her teacher certificate. Furthermore, she decided to be a teacher. According to those findings, the role of education has clearly affected her life when she decided
to go college and continued her study to being a teacher. Thus, her perspective towards education for Palestinian children, who joined Intifada was in a serious
concern. She thought that it was unfortunate things happened in Palestinian children. Also, her views towards women who should wear a head scarf and a long
dress. She had a different views that it was not about what women should wear but PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
